Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack.
Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.
This week, we’re looking at different news stories and updates that all touch the world of BIPOC lit.
Oprah announces her new book club pick on her new podcast, Haymarket Books runs a fundraiser to send books to incarcerated people, the New York Public Library announces its best books of the year, and more.
News
Oprah Winfrey Announces New Book Club Pick and Launches ‘The Oprah Podcast’
Just as Oprah has announced her next book club pick—Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, which was adapted into a film starring Cillian Murphy—she also announced a new podcast. It was on the new show, titled “The Oprah Podcast,” that the talk show icon actually announced the new book club pick and had an interview with the author.
Future book club podcast episodes will be done in partnership with Starbucks, and will even be recorded in different Starbucks locations.
HayMarket Books Runs Books Not Bars Fundraiser for the Holidays
“Haymarket Books, a nonprofit book publisher dedicated to publishing books that foster social and economic justice, is currently running a holiday fundraiser aimed at connecting incarcerated people with radical books that educate on politics. These books are meant to provide support to people inside the prison system, an inherently violent place.”
Industry Professionals Respond to CLPE Diversity Report With a Call for Change
Turns out the US isn’t the only book publishing market struggling with showcasing diverse voices. Over in the UK, the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) reported a drop in diverse children’s stories. Publishers responded with concepts of thoughts and prayers, essentially. Not to be overly cynical, but we’ve been there, done that, girl; what’s new?
We Need Diverse Books Marks 10 Years and Looks to the Future
Stateside, the fight for representation in books continues as We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) marks its 10-year anniversary and looks ahead. The organization started in 2014 after BookCon’s featured authors were mostly male and all-white. Since its inception, WNDB has advocated for diverse children’s literature, and even found success. An April report showed progress in the number of diverse-written children’s books—but it hasn’t all been good. The past few years have also brought about a deluge of book bans.
Shows ‘n’ Things
The Piano Lesson
Back in August, we wrote a little about the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Piano Lesson, which stars John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, and others.
Look Back
Look Back is a movie adapted from a standalone manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the author of the mega-popular Chainsaw Man. It follows two girls on their journey to becoming manga artists. I’ve read both works by Fujimoto, and I have to say that his art style and stories breathe freshness into the popular anime/manga landscape. Heads up, though, that Look Back is a real tearjerker.
Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain
Somehow, I had only just heard of the anime series Mononoke this year. It was first released in 2007, but it feels like it could have been released yesterday. When I say it’s unique, I mean that I’ve never seen any anime (or other animated show, really) quite like it. It has some of the more commonly seen anime art style, but it combines it with beautiful and textured art panels that combine elements of traditional Japanese storytelling with beautiful patterns and trippy sequences. It’s a blend of horror, fantasy, and mystery that gets as dark and surreal as you can think at times.
Apart from its art and story style, another thing that makes it different from what I usualy come across is that it is one of the few anime I’ve watched that started as an anime, and was then adapted into a manga (and then two stage plays) instead of the other way around. All in all, it’s probably the prettiest animated series I’ve ever seen, and I am so geeked that the movie is finally available stateside.
If you’re also trying to dabble, Netflix has it here (though, obviously, you should watch the show first, which I promise will fly by).
The New York Public Library’s Best Books of the Year
If you haven’t already seen it, the New York Public Library released their best books of the year. They have separate lists for adults, teens, and children, which I love. So many of these end-of-the-year best-of book lists have such paltry pickings for YA and kids, so I stan a list that has such a big selection of both. I also love how diverse the list is.
I actually spoke to Susen Shi, the New York Public Library’s Young Adult Staff Engagement and Support Manager, about the importance of having diverse book selections for teens in a city as diverse as NYC.
You can catch it below.
Books Out in Paperback
Here are some books out in paperback, though you may have to toggle to paperback.
Songs on Endless Repeat by Anthony Veasna So
Opinions by Roxane Gay
*All-Access Members Can Continue Below for Must-Read BIPOC Releases Coming Out This Week*
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